Thursday, October 04, 2012

Why Obama Got His Clock Cleaned Last Night

The latest victim of the Two Minute Hate is poor old PBS lefty Jim Lehrer. Every one from Obama campaign honcho Stephanie Cutter to the usual suspects at MSNBC apparently want him shot after torture.

"Why didn't he fact check Romney? Why did he give Romney so much more time? Why didn't he mention the 47% tape? Waaah!"

In other words, they wanted an impartial moderator to do President Obama's job for him. And in fact, President Obama spoke for five minutes more than Romney.

Of course, what they really wanted was not a moderator, but an ally who would help Barack Hussein Obama.

And you know, Jim Lehrer tried, he really did.He constantly tried to throw Barack Obama lifelines on how to respond. In the early part of the debate, there was only one candidate Jim Lehrer was interrupting, and it wasn't Barack Obama. At one point, when the president was stymied, he actually ordered Lehrer to move on to another topic, and Lehrer complied. Lehrer really only substantially interrupted the president once during the debate to tell President Obama that his time was up and Barack Obama's response tells volumes.

He glared at Lehrer with real animosity and snapped at him "I had five seconds left until you interrupted me." And Lehrer visibly paled and backed down.

Therein lies part of the answer.

Barack Obama actually resented the fact that he had to debate. He resented the idea that he, in all his awesomeness, had to stoop to talking to the likes of Mitt Romney, who represents everything he hates - white, successful, mature, a leader in the private sector, a Republican who favors free enterprise and American exceptionalism.

He resented the fact that anyone would challenge his reign, or question the scam he's been running for years. Barack Obama is not used to being challenged about anything.

That's why he wouldn't deign to look at Romney, why his posture and attitude were casual and dismissive, and why he erupted at Jim Lehrer. He was in a situation where even his media lackeys couldn't filter anything for him. And many Americans, for the first time, saw his arrogance, his immaturity and his unfitness for the office he holds. The Emperor's new clothes were revealed in all their egotistical irrelevance and intellectual poverty.

To me, one key turning point in the debate was when President Obama, the man who has run up more debt than almost every president before him combined, the president who has yet to produce a budget kept repeating a nonsensical talking point he pulled out of a nether part of his anatomy about a supposed $5 trillion dollar tax cut Romney wants to impose.

John McCain or the president's surrogates would have nodded solemnly and let it pass. Mitt Romney smiled at him and simply told him, and his fellow Americans that it was absolute nonsense that had no basis in fact.

"I have five boys Mr. President. I'm used to hearing people repeat something that isn't true in hopes that I'll eventually believe it."

What Romney was saying, in essence was 'I've dealt with children with your tactics before.'

Anyone in America who has ever raised a child got it immediately, and with that one line, Mitt Romney nailed the essence of whom Barack Obama is.

Oh, and the 47% line? I really do hope the president goes there. Aside from the fact that much of what Mitt Romney had to say that day in response to a specific question was reasonably correct, if we're going to talk about old tapes, there are a number of them that have surfaced recently featuring this president talking about how he loves redistribution of wealth and what a major and beneficial influence Jeremiah Wright was in his life. Not to mention a number of others my readers are familiar with on topics like Israel, this president's support for denying babies who survive an abortion medical care, and hollowing out the U.S. military.

The 47% line only works as a dishonest campaign ad. In a debate, it would be swatted out of the park.

The simple fact is this. Barack Obama won in 2008 because the media adored him and refused to vet him, he faced an inconsequential candidate following a vastly unpopular incumbent, his actual resume was almost non-existent, and he spoke in broad platitudes and was marketed so that people could project anything they wanted on him.

Now, he's facing a competent and intelligent candidate who isn't going to ignore his abysmal record or defer to him, and there's no secret anymore about whom Barack Obama is or what he stands for.

Mitt Romney was willing to portray the differences between Barack Obama's vision of America and his own in eloquent terms last night and to trust the American people to make their own judgements. The media was unable to protect this failed president and filter information to keep it off the country's radar for once, and what we saw was not a 'bad night' for Barack Obama, but a clear picture of whom he really is.

President Obama can come out for the next debate more aggressive and nasty, which is exactly what the Left wants. It will only serve to reinforce the impression Americans got of him last night.

As for Mitt Romney, two pieces of advice. Treat last night not as the impressive win it was but as an opening battle, and stay hungry. And second, heed Sarah Palin's advice about vigilance. There nothing Barack Obama and his minions will not do to stay in power.